# Member of the State Assembly, District 26 Compare records and positions simply between Patrick Ahrens or Tim Gorsulowsky for Member of the State Assembly, District 26 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term). - Jurisdiction: California Legislature - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-26 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 91 out of 100 (Very strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Patrick Ahrens** — State Assemblymember · Democratic · Incumbent - **Tim Gorsulowsky** — Small Business Owner · Republican Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens took 75.4% of the June 2 vote and Republican Tim Gorsulowsky took 24.6%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers Sunnyvale, Cupertino and part of west San Jose. The winner holds one of 80 Assembly seats for a two-year term, inside a 12-year lifetime cap on service in Sacramento. An Assemblymember authors bills, sits on the policy committees that decide which bills advance, and argues for the district's share of the annual state budget. A first-term member is still building the committee position that determines how much of that agenda actually moves. The incumbent raised more than $1.1 million — among the largest war chests on this ballot — while converting 8 of 35 authored bills into law in his first session. Those two facts sit oddly together and are worth weighing as a pair: fundraising capacity and legislative output are not the same thing, and this district's ballot shows a wide gap between them. ## Patrick Ahrens Patrick Ahrens, the Democratic Assemblymember for this district, is in his first term. He says he and his twin brother spent part of their childhood living in the family's car amid a household "that struggled with substance addiction," and was the first in his family to attend college (campaign site). Before the Assembly he was president of the Foothill-De Anza Community College Board, where he says he led planning for a campus health center and a 200 million dollar housing bond; he has authored dozens of bills in Sacramento, including one repealing criminal penalties for parents of chronically truant students, signed into law in October 2025 (campaign site). He frames his run around bringing "Silicon Valley's" results-oriented approach to state government (campaign site). In February 2026 he introduced AB 1831, which would cap California State University administrator pay at 125% of the governor's salary and require the CSU to rescind raises approved in late 2025 and January 2026; he said CSU administrators "should not be getting rich on the backs of California families" while the university was "cutting classes and student services" (Contra Costa News). The bill passed the Assembly floor and was referred to a Senate committee, where it remained pending. He promises to expand mental health services through colleges and universities, increase housing supply "across all income levels," and protect access to reproductive health care; he also promises permanent supportive housing paired with mental health and substance-abuse treatment for people who are homeless (campaign site). **Strengths:** A first-term member who has already authored dozens of bills and gotten a truancy-law repeal signed, with a CSU pay-cap bill that cleared the full Assembly. **Trade-offs:** Most of his bills are still moving through the process, and the CSU pay bill he is most associated with has not cleared the Senate. **Keep in mind:** He describes a childhood with homelessness and addiction in the household as the reason he focuses on housing and mental health. How much that shapes your view of his policy choices is yours to weigh. ## Tim Gorsulowsky Tim Gorsulowsky is a Republican small business owner and the only other candidate on this district's ballot. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. No campaign website or current news coverage of his platform could be located. What he would prioritize in office is not documented anywhere that could be located. What is known about him comes from his ballot designation as a small business owner. **Strengths:** He gave this district a contested race rather than an uncontested one, and took roughly a quarter of the June vote doing it. **Trade-offs:** He has no record in any office to be judged on, and no documented platform beyond his ballot designation. **Keep in mind:** Coverage surfaced almost no biographical or platform detail about him. That gap is what is publicly available, not a comment on his candidacy. ## Record in office Patrick Ahrens (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 8 of them signed into law. Tim Gorsulowsky has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Record details Ahrens — AB 1359 (2026): Jury service exemptions. Ahrens — AB 2766 (2026): Public postsecondary education: student housing: foster youth and homeless youth. Ahrens — AB 243 (2025): Postsecondary education: student financial aid dependency status: juveniles. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Patrick Ahrens** - Primary: $1,173,911 raised (Small donors: $1,789; Individuals: $135,456; PACs & committees: $591,074; Businesses & other orgs: $438,200) - November: $48,825 raised (Individuals: $14,025; PACs & committees: $8,900; Businesses & other orgs: $25,900) Tim Gorsulowsky has no contributions reported to Cal-Access for this race. Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026 by committees controlled by each candidate, and can include transfers from a candidate's earlier committees. Semi-annual reports covering January–June 2026 were due July 31, 2026, so some totals lag a period behind. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-09-21. Tim Gorsulowsky has no itemized contributions dated after the June 2, 2026 primary reported to Cal-Access yet. Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 30, 2026 — small-dollar unitemized (under $100) contributions aren't independently dated in Cal-Access's raw export, so they aren't reflected here and this may undercount true small-donor activity since the primary. This also doesn't include money reported only on 24-hour late-contribution reports (Form 497) that haven't yet appeared in a periodic Form 460 filing. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-30. ## Review notes - Patrick Ahrens for Assembly may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote) 2. [Patrick Ahrens for Assembly — campaign site (biography, why running, priorities)](https://www.patrickahrens.com/) 3. [Contra Costa News — Asm Ahrens Introduces Legislation to 'Rein in Out-of-Control' California State University Management Pay](https://contracosta.news/2026/02/12/asm-ahrens-introduces-legislation-to-rein-in-out-of-control-california-state-university-management-pay/) 4. [California Legislature — AB 1831 (2025-2026), CSU administrator pay cap, text and history](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1831) 5. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org) 6. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/) 7. [Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/helpful-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity) ## The rest of the ballot Member of the State Assembly, District 26 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Member of the State Assembly, District 26 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-26 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.